Within the Department of Defense there is a mission to deliver a large number of soldiers to a forward position by parachute. The jumpers are equipped with harnesses and parachutes to slow their descent. All modern parachute systems have a means of separating the parachute from the harness for emergencies and continued execution of the mission once on the ground. The means of separation is called a parachute or canopy release assembly.
Parachute systems worn by the airborne soldier utilize a solid mechanical release. This release has been in the field in various forms since the 1950's. Existing releases such as these require a piece of metallic hardware to be sewn into the harness. Activation of the release permits the separation of a male fitting and female assembly. The female assembly is sewn into the harness and stays with the jumper. The male fitting is sewn to the parachute riser and leaves with the riser. This situation can result in a significantly sized piece of steel passing by the head and face of the jumper.
Sport jumpers use a 3-ring canopy release. The 3-ring canopy release is a series of three interlocking rings sewn onto the harness and riser which are closed by a nylon-coated steel ripcord. Each ring uses mechanical advantage to reduce the load held by the previous. The result is the potential to only need to restrain as little as 1/10 the load acting through the canopy riser. Other configurations of the ring style release exist in which the load reduction factor was attempted to be increased (4 and 5 ring assemblies).
The final closure of a multi-ring release is a textile loop held in place by a ripcord. When the ripcord is pulled free of the textile loop, the loop flexes and releases the smallest of the metallic rings. In turn, each ring releases the next successively larger ring until the riser is set free.
Past efforts have been made to include a multi-ring release into the Airborne Soldier harness system. Several factors make a multi-ring assembly attractive. However, due to the large variation in body sizes the harnesses have to fit, the ripcord method is not applicable.
Various constraints prevent the aforementioned devices to be available for activation in all conditions. One significant condition is the act of a jumper being dragged on their chest and stomach. The motion to activate the release would be blocked by the ground.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a canopy release that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.